


Can I Call You Tonight?

by CaramelKruze



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Eventual Romance, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Kind of a slow burn, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Swearing, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24641365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaramelKruze/pseuds/CaramelKruze
Summary: Group projects were a different type of hell, Gavin knew that very well, but maybe this one wouldn't be so bad... especially if it meant he would end up befriending Nines.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 18
Kudos: 37





	1. The Group Project

**Author's Note:**

> I miss going to university and actually sitting in lectures and this is how I'm coping with that. Also, I slammed this out in just under an hour and I've never written a multi-chapter fic before so we'll see how this goes. Hope you like it! Title is from Can I Call You Tonight? by Dayglow.

If group projects in high school were torture, then group projects in university were a new layer of hell. Gavin remembered thinking that once he was finished with high school that he would never have to do another group project again, unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking and the university professors shared that same idea that group work was fair, valid, and could never go wrong because everyone would definitely contribute their fair share of work. 

Gavin was in hell. He never considered the possibility that somehow he would have to do group work when he was majoring in English, but here he was, being assigned a group for some tedious project. He barely knew anyone in the class, even though it was a relatively small one. The only people that would even acknowledge him were the few that sat at the same table as him every day, and even then it was really only to ask a question about what they had missed if they weren’t there the previous day. Despite not interacting with anyone else, he could still see the disappointment and resentment they all shared when the professor announced the group project. 

It was groups of four, which was the standard size for a group project, but almost guaranteed that _at least_ one person would slack off. Gavin could almost already hear the text they would send as a half-hearted apology: ‘Sorry! I had another assignment and _totally_ forgot we were supposed to meet even though we discussed the time and confirmed it several times!’. He could only hope that he got at least one other person who genuinely cared about the work that they did. 

The professor had finally finished explaining the assignment and had lifted up the projector screen to reveal the groups for the assignment. He didn’t recognize half of the names and didn’t know any of the people in the group he was in. One name stood out simply because it caught him off-guard. ‘Nines’? What kind of a name was ‘Nines’? 

To alleviate some of the initial confusion, the groups were numbered, which allowed the professor to just assign a number to a table and allow all of the group members to meet at that table instead of trying to find each other on their own. Since there was not much time left in the class, today would just be exchanging ways to get a hold of each other and establishing a group chat to communicate. Gavin collected his things and made his way to the table the professor had designated as group 3. 

The other two were already there, but Gavin had little faith that the fourth would even show up. 

“Hey, I have to leave early so I’m just gonna give you guys my number and you can make a group chat and we can text about meeting up to work on this later? Great, I’ll see you around.” One of the group members (Chet, Gavin assumed as that’s what he had written on the sticky note with his number) said and then left before either of the others had time to reply. 

“Well. This is off to a great start. I’m Gavin, by the way.” Gavin said he looked over at the last remaining group member. 

“Nines.” He seemed nice enough, Gavin thought, looked a little intimidating, but overall pretty cool. “I suppose we make the group chat and hope that the last person shows up to the next class. Here, give me your number and I’ll create the chat.” Nines handed Gavin his phone with a new contact already open and Gavin quickly typed in everything. When he finished and handed back the phone, he took a minute to actually look at Nines. He wore a black turtleneck with a simple silver chain that rested over top, tucked into a pair of grey plaid pants. There was a grey coat resting on the table that Gavin assumed was his as well. Even his glasses seem to match his outfit, as they were silver frames that fit his face extremely well. Classy enough that Gavin didn’t immediately think that Nines was a business major, but not casual enough to rule it out completely. 

Gavin wondered for a moment if Nines was doing the same, and judging him based on his own outfit. His style wasn’t that much different. He was wearing a simple black sweatshirt tucked into a pair of jeans, and a light leather jacket that he often opted to carry instead. Gavin wasn't one to be overly self-conscious, but he would be lying to himself if he said that he wasn't at least a little bit intimidated by the confident air that Nines held about himself. 

“There,” Nines’ voice startled Gavin out of his thoughts. “the group chat is made. We can organize a time for us all to meet later and discuss the project.” 

“Great, thanks, Nines.” 

“Of course. I’ll see you later.” Nines said, before picking up his coat and bag and leaving. 

Gavin couldn’t tell if Nines was just normally cold and detached, or if he was just tired and unimpressed by the prospect of a group project. That was the part of Nines that made him intimidating to Gavin, he figured. The fact that throughout that whole exchange, Nines remained completely neutral and unfazed by anything going on around him. 

Gavin picked up his bag and his jacket and made his way to his next lecture. 


	2. Not As Tough As You Think

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bus rides where you realize that you exist outside of your own perception of yourself, and meddling siblings.

Even though he didn’t have another lecture that day, Gavin found himself walking aimlessly around campus. At this rate, he would miss the bus that would take him home, but he lacked the drive to care. 

It was later in the day now, around 4:45 pm, so there were considerably fewer people than there were during the day. The only reason people took night classes was, after all, for the free parking that was offered after 5:00 pm; that and the fact that you didn’t have to wake up at ass o’clock to go to a boring lecture. That was Gavin’s opinion anyway. 

His phone vibrated and he checked the message, already certain it was the group chat beginning to discuss a time to meet. 

_‘Hey, everyone. Is there a time tomorrow that everyone is free? Ideally, if we meet once we can_

_get everything sorted and then work on each part separately.’_

Gavin waited a few moments, giving others a chance to voice their opinion first, well, the one other, he supposed. It seemed like Nines was not able to get a hold of the fourth member as there were still only the three of them in the chat. 

After another five minutes with no other response, Gavin typed out a reply. 

_I’m free anytime after 5:00_

Nines replied shortly after. 

_‘Does 5:30 pm work for everyone then?’_

Gavin replied that 5:30 would work fine and Chet chimed in shortly after saying the same thing. It was decided that they would meet in one of the common areas at 5:30 pm. 

Gavin checked the time, 6:35 pm. If he didn’t go wait for the bus now, he would miss the express bus and have to take the normal one that took the extra 45 minutes. It wasn’t like he had anywhere he needed to be, except that Mitski (his cat) was most definitely wondering where he was. He decided against wasting any more time and made his way to the bus stop. 

* * *

The bus wasn't as busy as it usually was; that was the one upside of waiting until the last bus. Normally Gavin would have to stand for a good portion of the ride, which he didn’t mind but it was a long way until his stop. Normally when he took the earlier bus, there would be the normal crowd of people that he would see, the people that you didn’t quite know but you felt enough of a personal connection with them because you shared thirty minutes of your day on the bus with them. On this later bus, there were none of the usual familiar faces though. It was different, unfamiliar in a somehow reassuring way. 

* * *

Gavin made his way up the stairs to his apartment, absentmindedly fiddling with his keys as he did so. Mitski was happy to see him, and even happier when he opened the small can of food and put it in her food dish. 

He made a box of Kraft Dinner for himself and was almost finished when his phone pinged. 

_‘Just so we are explicitly clear: we are meeting tomorrow at 5:30. I advise you all to look over the_

_project yourselves so that we have a clear idea of what we each want to do.’_

Gavin could tell it was Nines before he looked at the contact simply by the tone of the text. The guy texted like it was a business proposition. 

He dragged out his laptop and started to look over the project and the rest of the work he had for the evening. Only stopping two hours later when Tina messaged him to play Minecraft

* * *

“Why do you look more pissed off than normal?” Connor said as he sat on the opposite couch from his brother. Nines was very clearly busy reading something on his laptop, but Connor had no qualms about pestering his brother when Nines didn’t want to be bothered. 

“I’m busy,” Nines said flatly. 

“I’m aware.” 

Connor held a book in his hands, debating whether he was going to give up annoying Nines in favour of actually reading it. Right as he opened his mouth to say something, Nines spoke up first. 

“Connor. Do not.” 

“Alright, alright. It’s just that I’ve never seen you so worked up over an assignment. What’s so bad about this one? Usually, you would be finished by now.” Nines’ annoyance was very thinly veiled, and Connor was well aware of it. 

“Because, unfortunately, I am forced to depend on the work of others to justify the grade that I will be receiving. We’re meeting tomorrow,” Nines took out his phone at this and typed out a message quickly, sending it with an annoyed huff. “which will inevitably end with only one other showing up, and then most of the work landing on our shoulders; if I am lucky. What will most likely happen is that none of them show up and I do the assignment myself.” 

Connor was almost amused at how worked up Nines seemed over the whole assignment, but he also understood his frustration. Connor had a few group projects in engineering, which were a whole experience that he would rather forget… and they were also the catalyst that caused him to switch majors completely. There were no group projects in classical studies. 

“It can’t be that bad, Nines. Maybe you’re just overthinking it and everyone will show up? There has to be at least one other person in your group who cares about their grade at least a little bit.” 

“I doubt that. One person left the lecture early before we could discuss anything, and the fourth person didn’t even show up. The one guy looked like he didn’t want to be there.” 

“To be fair, I’m sure you always look like you don’t want to be there.” 

Nines threw the closest pillow he could grab at Connor, scowling as Connor laughed. 

“Hey! It’s true. He was probably scared of you.” Connor stopped when he noticed the pink that lightly dusted Nines’ cheeks, “Hold on… you never care about people finding you scary. What’s so special about this guy?” 

“Nothing. You’re just being annoying.” 

“What’s his name? Maybe I know him.” 

Nines paused, still looking pointedly at the screen in front of him. “Gavin.” 

“Wait. Gavin Reed? Because if it’s Gavin Reed then it’s Tina’s friend Gavin.” Connor was suddenly on his phone, quickly swiping and typing. 

Nines finally looked at him. 

“It might be. I’m sure he put his last name in the contact on my phone but I didn’t really check. It doesn’t matter regardless. Whether or not you know him is not going to change the fact that this group project is going to be a giant pain in the ass.” Nines watched as Connor searched through his phone. He didn’t know what his plan was or why he was so concerned, but he knew his brother well which meant that he had every right to be as suspicious as he was. 

“Is this him?” Connor held up his phone to Nines. 

It was a photo of Tina, who Nines understood was pretty good friends with Connor, and (sure enough) Gavin right beside her. It looked like they were at one of the recent football games. Nines was definitely not going to admit how seeing Gavin’s smile in the photo made him smile as well, ever so slightly

“Yeah. That’s him.” Nines looked up and absolutely hated the devilish smile that his brother had. “Connor. I don’t know what you’re thinking about doing, but I am telling you right now to stop it.” 

Connor, who was already busy typing again, replied in a tone that Nines was sure that only younger siblings who were definitely about to be annoying could master. “Nines, you know me, I would never, ever, hope to _ever_ meddle in the life of my dearest brother.” Connor gave him a big smile, before abruptly standing up. “Alright, I’m going to bed. Goodnight, Nines. Don’t stay up too late. You’re driving me tomorrow morning right?” 

“No, I don’t have to be at the university until 10:30. You can catch the bus.” 

“Thank you, you’re the best, I’ll see you tomorrow morning when you drive me at 7:30.” 

Nines sighed in defeat. 

“Goodnight, Connor.” 

Nines tried to put it out of his mind for the rest of the evening, but he couldn’t shake the nervousness that came about whenever he thought about the meeting tomorrow. He barely knew Gavin. The short conversation they had earlier in the day was the first time Nines had even spoken to him. He hated that he couldn’t stop thinking about him. All things considered, feeling nervous about this was childish. It was a simple group project. They would meet tomorrow, discuss it, and then they wouldn’t have to see each other again and they could do the rest digitally. 

He would go to sleep, and he would be back to normal by morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of this was written between 2 am and 3 am, and its a lot longer than the last one so I apologize if there are any mistakes. I hope you enjoy it! I don't really post on there yet but if my writing gets enough traction I'll post updates there.


	3. Loverboy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you think you need people to leave you alone and let you pine over someone in peace, but maybe what you really need is a little shove in the right direction.

Gavin was awake and on the bus by 7:00 AM. He hated morning lectures, and always said to himself at the end of the year that he would never take one again, but sure enough, there would be a lecture that he required and it was only offered at 8:30 AM. He couldn’t even really complain that the lectures were the reason he didn’t get enough sleep either, that was completely his own fault. He would either stay up far too late watching something, or just wouldn’t be able to fall asleep for hours. 

The bus ride was the same as usual. The same faces getting on and off at the same stops as they usually did every Friday. He watched as the buildings grew in height as they approached the downtown area. 

The university campus was relatively empty. It would stay this way until just after 9:45, and Gavin always enjoyed how much quieter it was at this hour. Only the scattered soft conversations and the steady drone of the nearby kitchens. He wasn’t big into art, but he figured that if he was he would find inspiration in the way the rising sun filtered through the windows of the main entrance and cast a golden glow onto the plants and tables. 

Gavin ordered a coffee at the small coffee shop in the main commons, the same one that he would be meeting the others at for the English project. Since he was early and his lecture was close by anyways, he stopped and sat at one of the tables for a while, browsing through his phone while he thought about the meeting. 

He wondered if Nines would be just as dressed up as he was yesterday. How long did it take him to get ready in the morning? Or was looking that put together and professional just a natural state for Nines? Gavin realized that he was thinking about Nines again, far too much, he thought, for barely knowing him. Besides, he had to focus now; he had to get to class. 

As he got up, he caught sight of someone who looked extremely familiar walking through the front doors. By the time he picked up his things, they were already close and walking in the same direction he was. He realized he was staring a moment too late when the person smiled and started to speak. 

“You look like you know Nines.” He said in a voice that was close to Nines’, but not quite. 

Now Gavin was just confused. He looked a lot like Nines, but his eyes were brown and he had a very distinct smile. He looked softer than Nines did and just a touch shorter, but overall still incredibly similar. 

“Twins?” Gavin asked, they were still walking together, and Gavin wondered for a moment if this guy had been in his lecture the whole time and he had just never noticed before today. 

“Yep. I’m Connor, nice to meet you.” 

“Gavin. Nice to meet you too.” 

“Oh, he mentioned you last night! You’re in his English class. Hopefully his tough-guy act didn’t intimidate you too much, he really is a nice guy.” Suddenly, Connor stopped walking, and Gavin stopped with him. “Well, this is my class. I’ll see you around, Gavin.” Connor didn’t wait for Gavin to reply before he quickly opened the lecture hall and walked in, leaving Gavin alone in the silent hallway. Nines had mentioned him? He must have been talking about the meeting. It was nothing that Gavin needed to spend time thinking about, yet he couldn’t shake the thought from his head as he continued to his own lecture hall. 

* * *

By the time Gavin’s lecture was finished, the commons area had begun to liven up. There was now a sizable line at the coffee shop, and there was a steady buzz of conversation that filled the air. He didn’t see Connor again as he walked back to the commons area, and was momentarily disappointed by it, but he was unsure why. He was supposed to meet Tina at the library soon anyway, so he supposed it was a good thing that Connor wasn’t there to distract him. 

The library was one of Gavin’s favourite places to be on campus. There were five floors, and each one had certain spots that were the best places to sit and work, or even nap. No one would bother you when you were on the second floor or higher, and the fifth floor was a quiet zone where you could go for complete silence. 

He found Tina at a table in front of the window that overlooked the Academic Green, which was mostly empty at the moment, but would be full of people around noon. 

“Finally, you’re here. Thank you for helping me, again.” Tina said as she sorted the cue cards in front of her and put them in front of Gavin as he set down his jacket and bag. He had agreed to help her study for a chemistry exam, and even though he didn’t know much about chemistry, he knew that he could at least read the cue cards to her and help her memorize them. 

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it.” 

Working through the cue cards was easy enough. They managed to get through all of them at least twice before inevitably getting distracted and off-topic. 

“Excited for your meeting?” Tina said. She sounded like she knew something that Gavin didn’t. 

“Why do you ask? Am I excited for one other person to show up and for us to do all the work by ourselves? Oh yeah, definitely.” Gavin made an effort to sound as displeased as he was by the prospect of this project and Tina laughed. 

“I more meant because of this supposedly mysterious, brooding, hot guy you get to work with that you told me about last night.” 

Gavin felt his cheeks flush. 

“First off, I never said any of those words when describing him, and secondly, we won’t be working together in person anyways. He said that we would meet, and then we would work together online so I hardly say that I really get to work with him.” Tina was smiling at him. “Not that I would want to work together with him in person anyways.” He added quickly. 

“Okay, whatever you say, Gavin. I mean, you always talk about wanting some cheesy, cliché romance; now is your chance. Just say that you wanna meet in person again to work together, because you’ll both need to do extra work because of the other two not doing anything, and then boom: you two become really close from all that time spent together, and suddenly you’re hanging out more and more even after the project is finished.” Tina looked so proud of her plan, and Gavin let his forehead sink down to rest on the table. 

“Tina. I cannot begin to voice how much I hate that idea.” 

“You hate it because you know it would work. What was his name again? Nines? I’m pretty sure my girlfriend is friends with his brother. We could just ask him to set you and Nines up; that way you don’t have to waste time pining and worrying about getting rejected.” 

Gavin groaned, regretting telling Tina anything about Nines at this point. Tina rested her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t… but the option is there if you change your mind. I’m trying to be a good wingman here.” She laughed again. Gavin looked at the clock on his phone, 12:45 PM. 

“How about you leave me and my non-existent love life alone and we just go get lunch?” Gavin said, getting up. 

“A worthy sacrifice, I suppose. Let’s go then, loverboy.” Tina agreed, grinning at the sigh Gavin gave in response to her nickname for him. 

* * *

Even though Nines did not have to be at the university until much later in the morning, he was currently in his car at 7:30 AM and driving Connor to his lecture. Early mornings were not uncommon for Nines, so it wasn’t too big of a deal, but the idea of getting to sleep in wasn’t unappealing. He could always just drop Connor off and then drive back home, but it was easier at that point to just wait until his own class and avoid having to drive in morning rush hour traffic. He could also just learn to stand his ground and make Connor take the bus, but he always felt bad doing that. 

“Don’t look so upset, who knows, maybe you’ll get to see Gavin this morning.” 

“Connor?” 

“Hmm?” Connor tried to sound innocent but was completely unsuccessful. 

“Fuck off.” There was no real venom behind it, partly because Nines lacked the energy to actually be mad at him, and partly because he could never actually seem to be mean to his brother intentionally. He did his best to make it clear, however, that he did not want to continue the subject. 

“Fine, fine.” Connor was quiet for a few more minutes until they approached the turn for the university. “I’m just saying that-” 

“Connor.” Nines cut him off before he could start being a pest again. Connor just laughed and, thankfully, abandoned his previous thought. As they continued to drive to the right building, Nines continued to speak. “This happens every time I mention someone that catches my eye. You know I hate it when you pry into things that aren’t your business… especially when it’s my business that you're prying into.” Nines paused and heard Connor sigh beside him. “Just let me deal with things on my own, alright?” 

“Alright.” Connor sounded distracted, and when Nines looked over he could see that he was squinting through the car window, looking at someone who was walking up to the main entrance. Nines recognized him after a moment and, judging by the way he smiled, Connor did too. 

It was definitely Gavin. 

“Connor-” Nines began in a warning tone, trying to focus on finding a parking spot. 

“I know, I know. I won’t, don’t worry.” 

Nines finished parking the car, and Connor was quickly getting out. 

“Thanks again, Nines! I’ll see you later!” Connor yelled as he quickly made his way to the entrance; so quickly, in fact, that by the time Nines realized why he was running, Connor was long gone and out of the parking lot. Nines brought out his phone and sent a message to Connor. 

_ ‘Don’t you dare.’  _ He wrote. 

Connor looked at the message on his phone, already inside the building, and smiled. 

“This sign can’t stop me, because I can’t read,” he said to himself quietly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feeling really inspired lately, so hopefully this feeling sticks around so I can keep up with posting a new chapter every couple days. Still not sure how many chapters there will be total because I don't have a set plan for this story, but I hope you stick around and enjoy it anyways! Thank you for reading!


	4. The First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was not a crush. He just wanted to get to know him more. He just wanted to be friends with him because he was cool, smart, and... very good looking. It's not that complicated.

Gavin was already at the coffee shop in the commons by 5:00. Tina had left not long before, and he figured he might at well save a table for them. As the minutes continued to tick by, Gavin found himself thinking more and more about how it was likely going to be only him and Nines that would show up, and how much he just wanted to get this over with. Maybe it was Tina’s earlier teasing, but he was not looking forward to the idea of being alone with Nines. It didn’t make sense to be nervous; he barely knew him and he had never even interacted with him until the project. Nines was attractive, Gavin was willing to admit that at least, and that was likely the only reason that Gavin was nervous. Besides, there was a way more important thing to worry about, and that was the actual assignment that was worth a good chunk of his final grade. 

Gavin was looking through the assignment for the third time when his phone went off; it was 5:25 PM, and he immediately assumed it was one of the group members texting to give some reason as to why they suddenly couldn’t make it. 

_ “Please do not forget that we are meeting today at 5:30 PM. I hope that I will see at least one of you there.”  _ Nines had texted. Of course, Nines wouldn’t cancel… Gavin couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. 

_ “I’ve got us a table near the coffee shop.”  _ Gavin texted back, officially making it too late to back out of the meeting himself. 

_ “Great, thanks, Gavin.”  _

Nines didn’t seem like the type of person to be late, so Gavin assumed he was on his way as he texted. He noticed that he had been nervously bouncing his leg and rested a hand on his thigh to stop it, which worked for a moment until he wasn’t actively thinking about it. 

“Hey, Gavin. I have a feeling it will only be the two of us.” 

Gavin jumped slightly and quickly looked up at Nines who was sitting down opposite to him. 

“I think you’re probably right. At least we have two weeks to do it, so it’s not as bad as it could be.” Gavin moved his papers a little closer to himself to give Nines some room for his own on the table. “So should we just go ahead and assume that we’ll be doing everything and just divide the work between the two of us, or are we going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assign them parts to do?” 

Nines smiled, and Gavin was sure that Nines must have been worried about being the only one to show up as well. 

“Honestly, I think we should divide it among the four of us, but we should also plan to do the other parts anyways. It shouldn’t be too difficult to work on, it will just mean more researching and writing for us.” Just as Nines finished talking, his and Gavin’s phone went off. 

“I’m willing to bet that’s a message from Chet saying he can’t make it,” Gavin said, amused, if not annoyed. 

“I don’t make bets I know I can’t win.” Nines picked up his phone, and his reaction was all Gavin needed to know that he was right. “He says that he forgot that he had a lab today and couldn’t miss it.” Nines sighed and put his phone back down on the table, as Gavin snickered. He grabbed a pen out of a pocket that Gavin couldn’t see on the inside of his blazer and moved the papers around to find the rubric that outlined the basic parts of the assignment. “Did you have any parts of the assignment that you wanted in particular? We’ll plan out what parts we’ll take and leave the rest to deal with when we finish them.” 

The next ten minutes went by smoothly, as it was just dividing up the work between the two of them. They ‘assigned’ an equal amount of work to the other two group members, but it was clear that they would be working on it later anyways. Once that was all settled, and Gavin had given Nines his email address to add to the shared document online, they sat for a while longer. 

“I assume that given your earlier comments you already knew that it would be just us working on this,” Nines asked, amused. 

“Maybe I’m just a pessimist, but I’ve been in enough group projects to know that’s generally how they go. I’m just glad this is for an English class and not something like physics. Never had a member just not show up at all though. You never managed to get her number?” 

Nines shook his head. 

“The professor tried to contact her and got nothing and who knows if she will show up in the next week.” 

Gavin nodded. She could be in the process of dropping the course for all they knew. 

“So what’s your major?” Gavin asked, partly in an attempt to keep the conversation going just a little longer and partly because he was genuinely curious. He also wanted to see if he really  _ was _ a business major or not; granted, he wasn’t as dressed up today as he was the last Gavin saw him. His navy shirt that he wore under the brown blazer was unbuttoned enough that it wasn’t professional, but enough that it could be business casual. 

“Psychology with a minor in English, and yours?” 

“English with a minor in creative writing and classical studies.” 

“I’ve taken a few classical studies classes for my electives, really interesting stuff.” Nines seemed so genuine, and it made Gavin feel a lot more at ease, his earlier concerns about being alone with him long forgotten.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of dates to remember though. I took an intro psych class for my core classes and it was so much to go over and we barely scratched the surface. I don’t know how you can possibly memorize all of that stuff, I’m impressed.” Nines looked humble, shaking his head, Gavin could have sworn that a light pink dusted his cheeks. 

“It’s not that bad. The intro classes just have a lot to cover in a shorter amount of time. The other classes get more specific so they can spend more time on certain parts. I think that English is much more taxing because you can’t just study it for the most part. Most of it is trying to prove that what you think is right and learning  _ how _ to use the text to prove it. It’s so much analyzing work.” 

Gavin sat there for a moment, surprised by what Nines had said simply because so many people would instantly criticize his decision to major in English or go on about how it was so much easier compared to their own major. 

“I guess I never really thought about it like that, it always just comes naturally so I don’t think it’s too hard.” Gavin figured that he was probably the one who was blushing now, unused to compliments of any sort. Before either of them could say anything else, a familiar voice spoke up from behind Gavin, and by the look of barely disguised disappointment in Nines’ eyes, he had a feeling he knew who it was. 

“So they didn’t show up, huh? I’m not entirely surprised.” Connor said, walking up to his brother. “Hey, again, Gavin.” 

With the two of them right beside each other, it was easy to see how differently they carried themselves. Nines was a lot more tense and held his shoulders straight, whereas Connor let his carefree personality leak into his posture. He was smiling, no doubt because he could tell how much he was annoying Nines, but smiling nonetheless. He rested his arm on Nines’ shoulder, which was a little difficult given the, however small, height difference between the two. 

“How’s my favourite brother?” 

“Keep at it and you’ll walk home,” Nines said, no real venom in his words, as he shrugged Connor’s arm off his shoulder. “Sounds as though you two have already met, which I’m very sorry about.” Connor lightly elbowed Nines after he said that. 

“You said you would be done by 6:00. It’s 6:15.” Connor complained. “I have practice at 7:00.” 

“Alright, alright.” Nines picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “I’ll text you later about the project. Since it’s just the two of us we might have to schedule another meeting to sort things out more. I’ll see you in class, Gavin.”   
“Sounds good, I’ll see you around.” Nines turned around to leave and Connor did too after giving a short wave goodbye to Gavin. He watched the two of them walk towards the door. Connor, saying something that prompted his brother to turn to quickly for a moment and shake his head. Connor must have said something else after because Nines lifted his hand and lightly swatted Connor’s shoulder. Gavin laughed to himself before gathering up his own bag and heading towards the bus stop. 

* * *

For the first time in a while, working on a group project wasn’t actually as taxing. It was easy enough, it was just going to be a lot of work. If he got to work more with Nines, though, maybe it could even be enjoyable… Gavin flushed at his own thoughts. He was not about to admit that he might have a crush on the guy, he had, arguably, barely talked to him. He just thought being friends with him would be nice. That was it. It was perfectly normal to want to get to know someone more because you found them interesting. It was just an added bonus if they happened to be very smart, very good looking, and actually kind of nice.

Gavin found himself actually looking forward to the next Tuesday when he would see Nines again in class. Maybe now that class wouldn’t be as boring.

* * *

"Connor, you are absolutely insufferable somedays, you know that?" Nines said as they got in the car. 

"You've told me as much before." Connor was smiling. It wasn't often that he saw his brother get so flustered over something. The fact that it was over some guy he barely talked to was what made it so much funnier to him. 

"He is just a classmate." 

"I've never seen you smile so much when talking to a classmate. You also seemed very keen on me _not_ talking to him, which is as big of a sign as any." Connor stopped for a minute and looked over at his brother who wasn't showing the slightest hint of engagement. "Okay, okay, I'll leave it alone for now." Whether he would actually leave it alone or not was up for debate, but Connor knew when to back off. As much as he loved pestering his brother, he didn't want to _actually_ piss him off. Just a fun amount of pissing him off. 

"Thank you," Nines said. 

Connor was definitely going to talk to Tina about it tonight when she picked up Val from practice though. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been awhile since I updated this, and I'm trying to bring the same energy I started this with. I hope you like this chapter and stick around for the rest. :)


	5. Meddling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Connor continues to meddle in Nines' love life, Gavin contemplates his own love life, or lack thereof.

Connor took a drink from his water bottle, finally taking a moment to catch his breath. The sky had finally grown dark and the field was lit only by the big floodlights that surrounded it. Practice was over now, which meant that he could finally talk to Tina about Gavin. He had thought about leaving it alone like his brother had asked him to, but he had a penchant for involving himself with things that didn’t involve him. As any younger sibling would, he took great joy in just knowing things that he shouldn’t. Besides, Nines didn’t need to know.

“Hey, Val, is Tina here?” Connor asked, sitting down beside her. 

“Not yet, she had to work, she’ll be here in about ten minutes. Why? You need a ride?” 

Connor shook his head. “No I just wanted to ask her something, Nines should be here soon anyways.” Connor checked his phone, and sure enough, there was a message telling him that Nines would be there in two minutes, he wouldn’t have time to talk to Tina like he planned, so he would have to improvise. “You’ve met Gavin, right? Him and Tina are pretty close so I would assume you guys have at least talked.” 

“Yeah, I’ve met him a few times, how do you know him?” Val sounded confused, and the slightest bit suspicious, which was completely fair. 

“He’s in one of Nines’ classes, they’re working on a project together. He seems nice enough, I recognized him from one of Tina’s photos on Instagram and figured I’d ask if you knew him too.” Connor was trying his best not to sound like he had already done a whole mini-investigation into the guy. 

“He’s alright. I don’t talk to him much, but he’s been Tina’s best friend for years so he can’t be that bad. They play video games together a lot, but I’ve never really gotten to know him that well,” Val stared at him for a moment before continuing. “Why are you asking? You said he and Nines are working together, but why ask me about him?” 

“Just curious I guess.” Connor weighed his options before he continued his thought. “Do you know if he’s single?” 

“Connor. I am not going to help set you up with my girlfriend’s best friend,” Val deadpanned.

Connor laughed while Valarie stared at him in disbelief. 

“That wasn’t what I intended, don’t worry. Like I said, I’m just curious.” 

Valarie narrowed her eyes at him, then sighed in resignation. 

“... Okay.” She was clearly unconvinced. 

Connor’s phone ringing saved him from any further questioning from her, and he quickly went to answer it. It was Nines, telling him where he was, outside the stadium. Connor hung up and looked back and Valarie. 

“Thanks, Val. Have a good night, tell Tina I said ‘hello’.” 

“I will. See you tomorrow.” 

When Connor got home, his phone went off. It was a text from Valarie that read ‘ _ He’s single, but don’t think for a second that this changes my answer about setting you up with him. _ ’

_ ‘Thank u, Val, always there for me <3, don’t worry i’m not asking for me.’ _ Connor hoped for two things. One: that Val didn’t tell Tina about the conversation they had because Tina would probably get the wrong idea, and two: that Valarie also didn’t have the wrong idea, and maybe even three: that this did not get back to Gavin in any way. The thing about meddling is that the people whose lives you're meddling with cannot know that you’re meddling with them. 

* * *

When Gavin got home, he set to work on the project. It was a simple research project on literary eras, but it required a lot of research and reading. Nines had texted him that he was starting the slideshow after he dropped off his brother at his cheer practice. All Gavin could do now was work on researching and writing down everything that would need to go on the slides. It wasn’t due till the following Thursday so they could take their time regardless of whether the other group members decided to do any work or not. 

Mitski took her usual spot on Gavin’s lap and he ended up getting a lot of the research done; tomorrow he could write most of it onto the slides and then have Monday to work on his other classes; he liked to leave Sundays as a free day. It wasn’t long before a message from Tina popped up in the corner of his computer. 

‘ _ Get on Minecraft rn’ _

_ ‘Okay gimme a minute’ _ he typed back, carefully scooping up Mitski and putting her on the couch beside him before getting up to go to his desk in his room where his desktop computer sat. He had built it with his brother, who had gifted it to him, shortly after he moved out of their parents’ house a few years ago. He wondered, briefly, how Elijah’s research was going. He had called him the other week, but it was only a brief conversation.

Despite being so much younger than Gavin, Elijah had graduated from university much sooner, at 16 to be exact. For a time there was some bad blood between the two, but Gavin had gotten over himself and Elijah had done his best to patch things up between them. Sometimes he wondered if he could have done the same as he had if he actually had a work ethic and applied himself in the same way. He was smart, not to the same extent as his brother exactly, but he remembered how he had excelled in primary school and high school but stalled out in grade twelve. He didn’t blame their parents but, of course, there was some favouritism that played into Gavin’s initial dislike of his brother. 

He could hear the discord call before he put his headphones on. 

“So how was it?” Tina asked immediately after Gavin answered the call. 

“Not horrible. I was right, it was just the two of us.” 

“Gavin, you gotta give me more to work with than that. What was he like?” 

Gavin groaned and Tina laughed. 

“He’s actually pretty nice. Seems like an interesting guy, he seemed nicer than when we first talked in the lecture. He’s a psych major and minoring in English so I doubt this will be the last time I have a class with him. Met his brother today, too” 

“Hold on,” Tina said, before saying something to which Gavin assumed was Valarie. He couldn’t quite make out what she said, but soon he heard her laugh and Val yell something frantically. “Yeah, like I mentioned today, his brother, Connor, is friends with Val, they’re on the cheer team together. So the option is always there if you want me to mention something next time I see him.” she then added amusedly, clearly not to Gavin but to Val, “no, don’t worry, I won’t.” 

“Why does it make it so much worse that you know him.” Gavin half mumbled. 

Tina laughed again. 

“Don’t worry, I  _ barely _ know him. I’ve talked to him maybe five times. I’m not gonna message him and tell him or anything; I’m not an asshole, Gav. But I mean, if you wanted me to… I’m just putting it out there.” 

“Absolutely not. He seems nice, but I don’t think I would be his type anyway. He seems… too cool and intimidating.”

“Yeah, his brother is definitely the more approachable one of the two. A lot louder too.” There was a beat of silence before Tina continued, “Maybe Connor would be interested, we could go on cute double dates!” 

Gavin felt his face flush and he heard Tina start laughing again as Valarie began shouting indignantly in the background. 

“Oh my god, Tina, stop. I meet a guy and you instantly think I’m in love with him. It’s a group project, calm down.” Gavin was only half paying attention to what he was doing on Minecraft, his thoughts too preoccupied with the idea of Nines actually finding him attractive. 

He did this too often. He would see someone attractive, they would be the slightest bit nice to him, and then he would fall too hard and too fast. If they showed the slightest bit of interest, he was a goner. Maybe this time could be different though. Maybe this time something good could actually come from this. Even if it didn’t end in romance, Gavin was at least happy with the idea of having a new friend. If he played his cards right, they would keep talking even after the group project was finished. 

The fact that he was contemplating his love life  _ while _ playing Minecraft made all of his problems seem much more lighthearted than he originally considered them to be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back! It's been a while, but uni has finally calmed down again. Not much has changed other than the fact that I've been playing a lot more Minecraft. Also, if you wanna hear me yell about various things everyday: follow my twitter @opossum_time
> 
> Also if you notice any mistakes, please let me know! I run my writing through Grammarly and check it the best I can, but I might miss something occasionally since it's just me reading it over.


End file.
